|
Moving beyond complexity: Neuroanatomical considerations on the linguistic merging mechanism in humans| old_uid | 15512 |
|---|
| title | Moving beyond complexity: Neuroanatomical considerations on the linguistic merging mechanism in humans |
|---|
| start_date | 2018/02/26 |
|---|
| schedule | 11h |
|---|
| online | no |
|---|
| summary | Language emerges through the continuous combination of words to build phrases and ultimately sentences of potentially infinite length. A prominent hypothesis in theoretical linguistics suggests that the human capacity to build phrasal and sentential structures out of individual words relies on a simple rule-based syntactic computation, commonly known as Merge. In a series of different fMRI datasets, we sought to characterize a plausible neuroanatomical hypothesis for this computation. We specifically exploited the possible internal subcomponents of Merge: (1) The stringing of elements in inputs; (2) The build-up of more complex labeled hierarchies; (3) The recursive nature of its application during the creation of minimally hierarchical phrases and sentences; (4) The functional interface to the semantic system. By linking linguistic predictions to hemodynamic profiles, we put forward a spatial neural model for Merge, which assigns a peculiar structure-sensitive role to (the !
most ventral-anterior) BA 44, as the hierarchy-labeling area. Meta-analytical estimation on previous activation patterns corroborates BA44’s sensitivity to in hierarchical syntactic processing. The deep frontal operculum/anterior-dorsal insula (FOP/adINS), a phylogenetically older and less specialized region, conversely appears to support word-accumulation processing in which words are maintained on hold before further processing takes place. The differential contribution to semantic processing we found in sub-regions of the anterior IFG, the pSTS and the PC at these early stages of structure formation opens to testable corpus-based functional redefinitions of the semantic hubs within the human linguistic system. Works on the ontogenetic nature of Merge as reflected in syntactic diversity overlap, as well as the phylogenetic trajectories linking humans to non-human primates will be introduced. Finally, current experimental perspectives building upon our neuroanatomical hy!
pothesis–causality, directionality, modality—will be briefly discussed. |
|---|
| responsibles | Blancho |
|---|
| |
|